Hong Kong Bourse May Extend Friday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Hong Kong stock market soared higher again on Friday, one day after halting the two-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 1,140 points or 8 percent. The Hang Seng Index now sits just above the 16,160-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat following stronger than expected employment data from the United States. The European and U.S. markets were solidly higher and the Asian bourses are tipped to follow suit.

The Hang Seng finished with huge gains on Friday with support across the board, especially from the properties, oil companies and technology stocks.

For the day, the index skyrocketed 821.65 points or 5.36 percent to finish at 16,161.14 after trading between 15,442.76 and 16,513.16.

Among the actives, Alibaba Group surged 10.95 percent, while Alibaba Health Info jumped 6.60 percent, ANTA Sports spiked 8.06 percent, China Life Insurance rallied 7.18 percent, China Mengniu Dairy accelerated 7.76 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec) increased 2.79 percent, China Resources Land soared 9.26 percent, CITIC added 2.69 percent, CNOOC gained 1.65 percent, Country Garden skyrocketed 15.38 percent, CSPC Pharmaceutical climbed 4.64 percent, Galaxy Entertainment improved 3.95 percent, Hang Lung Properties strengthened 5.08 percent, Henderson Land advanced 4.42 percent, Hong Kong & China Gas was up 1.13 percent, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China collected 2.95 percent, JD.com surged 12.52 percent, Lenovo rose 1.51 percent, Li Ning skyrocketed 12.40 percent, Longfor spiked 8.31 percent, Meituan jumped 5.65 percent, New World Development rallied5.96 percent, Techtronic Industries strengthened 4.60 percent, Xiaomi Corporation accelerated 6.36 percent and WuXi Biologics soared 10.45 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened sharply higher on Friday, faded midday but bounced higher again late in the session.

The Dow surged 402.02 points or 1.26 percent to finish at 32,403.22, while the NASDAQ jumped 132.35 points or 1.28 percent to close at 10,475.25 and the S&P 500 climbed 50.66 points or 1.36 percent to end at 3,770.55.

For the week, the NASDAQ plummeted 5.7 percent, the S&P tumbled 3.4 percent and the Dow dropped 1.4 percent.

The volatility followed the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report for October.

The report showed non-farm payroll employment jumped by 261,000 jobs in October after surging by an upwardly revised 315,000 jobs in September.

The report generated a mixed reaction among traders, creating uncertainty about the outlook for future interest rate hikes.

Crude oil prices climbed higher Friday amid easing concerns about the outlook for energy demand. A weak dollar and fears of a ban by the European Union on Russian oil also supported crude oil prices. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended higher by $4.44 or 5 percent at $92.61 a barrel.